Chapter 3

The taxi exited on Route 25A. They headed through the woods along the North Shore until a low ridge of hills appeared on their left. Annabeth told the driver to pull over on Farm Road 3.141, at the base of Half-Blood Hill.

The driver frowned. "There ain't nothing here, miss. You sure you want out?"

"Yes, please," Annabeth handed him a roll of mortal cash, and the driver decided not to argue.

They hiked to the crest of the hill. The young guardian dragon was dozing, coiled around the pine tree, but he lifted his coppery head as we approached and let Annabeth scratch under his chin.

Steam hissed out his nostrils like from a teakettle, and he went cross-eyed with pleasure.

"Hey, Peleus," Annabeth said. "Keeping everything safe?"

The last time they'd seen the dragon he'd been six feet long. Now he was at least twice that, and as thick around as the tree itself. Above his head, on the lowest branch of the pine tree, the Golden Fleece shimmered, its magic protecting the camp's borders from invasion. The dragon seemed relaxed like everything was okay. Below, the Camp Half-Blood looked peaceful— green fields, forest, shiny white Greek buildings. The four-story farmhouse called the Big House sat proudly in the midst of the strawberry fields. To the north, past the beach, the Long Island Sound glittered in the sunlight.

Still...something felt wrong. There was tension in the air, as if the hill itself were holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen.

They walked down into the valley and found the summer session in full swing. Most of the campers had arrived last Friday, so they already felt out of it. It felt like a typical day at camp.

"Feels different, huh?" Harris said observing the camp.

"To be honest, not much. We always have something bad up our ass whenever we are here." Y/N chuckled. She tried not to pay attention to her ex-friends who seemed to be closer than before. Well, isn't that fucking great now that root of their problems is out of the picture?

"Oh boy, you are cranky," Harris said.

"Obviously. Do you think I was seeking their attention or something?" Y/N said, walking towards the Hermes Cabin with him.

"Yes, you were-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence boy," she huffed, face turning red in anger.

"I mean you know I am not lying," he said.

"I want to see them suffer without me. Wanting them to suffer, and wanting their attention are two completely different things."

"Okay, I understand," Harris said, knowing she wasn't about to leave this conversation alone until she wins. She stopped by her steps and looked behind at her two ex-friends. Whatever may be the case, the only thing she is looking forward to talking with Grover.

"Is this how it's gonna be the whole time we are together?" Harris asked pinching her cheek.

Y/N felt a jolt of pain in her chest. She was really putting Harris through all this bullshit and being selfish. She smiled and turned to look at him. "Sorry," she said and leaned to his face.

A smirk slowly formed on his face, "Are you trying to seduce me?" he asked.

"Do you want me to seduce you?" she asked, looking into his eyes. She knew how much of a burden her feelings were on Harris but this feeling...whenever she looked into his eyes, all of her worries washed away.

It was a good decision to move on. She wasn't exactly in a relationship with him. Well, Y/N didn't want to be with him "in order to forget Percy". She didn't want him to be her rebound. She knew he was good to her cause he liked her. It was quite obvious. But he deserved a proper relationship with her if they were in one. He deserved better than her grumbling about her past friends all the time. He deserved to be...pampered, showered with love, gifts, and all the things she always wanted to do for her boyfriend. Just being with him, and forcing herself to do these things for him to forget someone else meant that she didn't put her heart into it.

One thing is for sure, she wanted to put all her heart into a relationship with Harris.

"I need to talk to Clarisse," Annabeth said.

Percy stared at her as if she'd just said I need to eat a large, smelly boot ."What for?"

Clarisse from the Ares cabin was one of his least favorite people. She was a mean, ungrateful bully. Her dad, the war god, wanted to kill him. She tried to beat him to a pulp on a regular basis. Other than that, she was just great.

"We've been working on something," Annabeth said. "I'll see you later."

"Working on what?"

Annabeth glanced toward the forest.

"I'll tell Chiron you're here," she said. "He'll want to talk to you before the hearing."

"What hearing?"

But she jogged down the path toward the archery field without looking back.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Great talking with you, too." He turned back to look at Y/N, but she was not where they were earlier. Instinctively, he turned to look at Hermes Cabin, and oh, look. There she was. Leaning close to Harris whose hands slowly moved towards her cheek. He whispered something in her ears which made her look at Percy, who quickly looked away as if he was caught committing a sin.

He felt a bit of anger rise as well as relief in his veins when he found Y/N muttering something to him with her brows scrunched before stomping away toward the Apollo cabin. The explanation of these feelings was quite simple.

Anger, cause something that Harris said made her look at him with hatred.

And relief. Oh yes, that great feeling of satisfaction cause whatever he said made her angry to the point she refused to talk to Harris and went back to her own cabin instead.

[ TIME SKIP ]

Yes, there was tension in the air. Y/N started looking for Grover and after asking for directions, she was finally able to find him. But not in a very good situation. She didn't expect everyone to be up his neck for what he informed before.

A bunch of satyrs was sitting in a circle in the grass. Grover stood in the middle, facing three really old, really overweight satyrs who sat on topiary thrones shaped out of rose bushes. She has seen the three old satyrs before - they were the Council of Cloven Elders.

Grover was telling them a story. He twisted the bottom of his T-shirt, shifting nervously on his goat hooves. He hadn't changed much since last winter, maybe because satyrs age half as fast as humans. His acne had flared up. His horns had gotten a little bigger so they just stuck out over his curly hair. As she didn't hear it from the beginning, Y/N was unable to understand but she somehow managed to understand the topic.

Standing off to one side of the circle were Annabeth, another girl she'd never seen before, and Clarisse.

She noticed after a while that Chiron entered with Percy and dropped him next to them.

Clarisse's stringy brown hair was tied back with a camouflage bandanna. If possible, she looked even buffer, like she'd been working out. She glared at him and muttered, "Punk," which must've meant she was in a good mood.

Annabeth had her arm around the other girl, who looked like she'd been crying. She was small—petite with wispy hair the color of amber and a pretty, elfish face. She wore a green chiton and laced sandals, and she was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "It's going terribly," she sniffled. She looked at Juniper more closely and realized her ears were slightly pointed. Her eyes, instead of being red from crying, were tinged green, the color of chlorophyll. She was a tree nymph— a dryad.

"No, no," Annabeth patted her shoulders. "He'll be fine, Juniper."

Annabeth looked at Percy and mouthed the words- Grover's girlfriend.

Y/N gasped. Oh, what do you know? She wasn't the only one stepping into a relationship huh?

From what she understood the council was holding a meeting about Grover and how despite hearing Pan, he was not able to find him even after six months. He was trying to convince them how he said the truth, but none of his words were working in his favor. In the end, it was decided that if he was not able to prove his claims within a week, then he would lose his searcher's license.

"This meeting of the council is adjourned," Silenus said. "And now let us enjoy our noonday meal!"

The old satyr clapped his hands, and a bunch of nymphs melted out of the trees with platters of vegetables, fruits, tin cans, and other goat delicacies. The circle of satyrs broke and charged the food.

Grover walked dejectedly toward them. His faded blue T-shirt had a picture of a satyr on it. It read GOT HOOVES?

"Hi, Percy," he said, so depressed he didn't even offer to shake his hand. "That went well, huh?"

"Those old goats!"Juniper said. "Oh, Grover, they don't know how hard you've tried!"

"There is another option," Clarisse said darkly.

"No. No." Juniper shook her head. "Grover, I won't let you."

His face was ashen. "I—I'll have to think about it. But we don't even know where to look."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "I'll fill you in later, Percy. We'd better get back to our cabins. Inspection will start after some time."

Grover's eyes looked for the missing person in the team, who seemed to be looking at them. He ignored Percy's question and walked towards her. "How...are you doing?"

Y/N chuckled, "It's not as important as your issue. Do you want me to sing something to calm your nerves?"

"No, it's okay. I have to think about this." he looked behind to look at Annabeth and Percy who were trying to console his girlfriend.

"She's pretty," Y/N commented.

Grover turned a bit shy and said, "I know. And I guess you guys haven't talked it out either."

"Nothing is going to change even if we talk about it. Please don't hope for any kind of change. Besides," Y/N cleared her throat, "I'm...trying to get serious about someone else."

"Oh yes, I can see," Grover said looking behind her. She followed his eyes and discovered Harris quietly standing and looking at her. Realizing how her gaze was on him, he waved at her with a smile.

In the distance, a conch horn sounded.

"Inspection is starting, you should leave," Grover said before leaving. Y/N turned to walk toward Harris and said, "I'm sorry for being mad at you but to be fair, you're really making me angry and riling me up these days. So don't worry, I won't dissociate with you because of a stupid issue. For now, you should go to your cabin." She slowly slid her hand to his hair and ruffled it a bit.

Harris found himself staring at her back as she left. Well, he knew how that sea-green-eyed boy would strike up a conversation sooner or later. But he didn't expect it to be so soon.

"Do you know anything about it?" Percy asked walking near Y/N.

"Oh!" Y/N said, startled to feel his presence, "No, I don't know anything."

"Anything about what Annabeth is working on with Clarisse?"

"She's working with who?" Y/N stopped in her tracks to look at him, "Anyways, look Percy, I don't know anything about what she's up to."

"I mean, did you hear anything from anyone about what is going on?" Percy said. He felt impatient as nothing he said made her continue the conversation. She was quick with her responses and knew how to end them fast. "Do you even care?"

"I wouldn't be here in the first place if I didn't care enough. Just for your information, I'll be there where I am needed. I had enough of trying to be nosy about other people's quests and life. I'm done. So just leave me alone, okay?"

Percy pulled her by her hand, "I am really trying you know?" His tone of speaking felt different. Y/N knew he was trying to mend things between them.

"Me too," Y/N chuckled, "Trying so hard to mind my own fucking business for a change."